I’m getting a lot of calls about Internet Explorer. Apparently it’s got another security bug. It must be true because it was on the BBC.
Well it’s partly true. The bug is actually in ActiveX, which is Microsoft’s dodgy web browser application format. All browser application formats are dodgy. Allowing web sites to download code and run it on your PC is just a bad idea.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: just turn off ActiveX. That said, looking at the details of this particular vulnerability it doesn’t appear very easy to exploit. I suspect it’s getting more of a mention than it deserves as Microsoft isn’t going to patch it for IE6 or Windows XP for the first time, or so they say.
Hmm. What can Microsoft be thinking? Either they patch this regardless, or lose a further share of the browser market to Chrome – and another nail in the coffin of Active-X.